The Senior All Stars from Niles-Centerville Little League (NCLL) had their dreams of a division title end with a 13-7 defeat by Section 1, District 4, Oakland Little League. NCLL ended up in third place in the North CA State Tournament. Oakland advanced to the championship game against Eastern LL from Sacramento. Eastern LL won 13-0 and advanced to the Regional Tournament in Upland, Calif.

Walks and errors contributed to the loss to Oakland, but the Niles boys walked off the field with their heads held high. Again, they are proud of their accomplishments. Top hitters of the game: Robert Higares, 2 for 3 with a double; Alex Celeya, 2 for 3, 3 RBIs; and Sean O'Hare, 1 for 2 with an RBI. At the end of the game, the team and parents held one last meeting. Manager Perry Romero and coaches Roger Dhanda and Mike Branco all gave speeches of how proud they were of the boys. Romero, who was also the manager of the Major team that came in second place back in 2004, stated in his speech, "Someone told me that 2004 was a once in a lifetime feeling and he could never get it back. They were wrong! I know you boys feel it too."

Although the Niles boys placed 3rd, there is still an empty feeling. Of course they wanted to go all the way, but there is a lesson learned here. These boys spent the last three and a half weeks together fighting hard to win games and they did just that; these boys are lifetime friends. Behind the scenes there were practical jokes played, not only on each other but the coaches as well. With the blood, sweat and tears, the journey was fun! There is something called "chemistry" and this team has it. The great thing about this "chemistry" is that it didn't stop with the boys. The parents had it too! The lesson? You can still have fun in youth baseball even when the competition is intense. Sometimes people forget that. I believe it's how you coach the game.

Niles-Centerville District and Sectional Champions would like to thank all the leagues in District 14 for their support. You didn't go unnoticed. Reggie Torres and the District team, thank you; Steven Godfrey, Billy Nevin, Justin Dhanda, Roger Branco, Pierce Romero and Team Dad Bill Sinodinos, you are a part of the team! Finally, to the all-Niles-Centerville Little League families who traveled so far just to see us play, you are what makes this league so great! Thank you.